


Aftershocks

by MyssaMyss



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda (Linked Universe), The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Earthquakes, F/M, Linked Universe, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), LinkedUniverse, Panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:44:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19376044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyssaMyss/pseuds/MyssaMyss
Summary: An earthquake stirs up difficult memories of Sky’s fears and foes. Zelda (Sun) comforts him.





	1. Fear

When the earth began to shake beneath the Links’ boots, Sky wasn’t afraid. A wordless prayer of thankfulness swelled within him as his feet moved surely across the shuddering stone ground. Zelda was still helping him, even as he journeyed far in the distant future.  

The shaking went on to split the earth beneath them into a wide fissure, but Sky was ready. He watched a deep crack in the stone as it splintered toward them and cleaved the ground between Warriors’ feet. The distance widened rapidly and threatened to pull Warriors down into the growing chasm. But Sky moved without hesitation, bolstered by the holy memory of  _her._   

He barreled into Warriors at full speed, his shoulder collided with the man’s chainmail-covered chest, and the two went sprawling over the fissure to safety. Sky’s knee cracked against the stone ground. Warriors gave a sharp cry as his head violently rebounded off a rock. The earth continued to tremble. Yet Sky’s mind was filled with a soothing vision of Zelda: her hands smoothing his hair and holding his shoulders while her lips whispered sweet encouragements into his ear. 

Whenever the earth quaked and fears rose in his mind, her steadfast love would put him back together again. Over time, he had somehow internalized her supernatural calm. _Thank you,_ he prayed silently.     

*** 

Link’s first earthquake came just after dawn. They hadn’t been living on the surface for long. 

Link was beginning to accept the surface as their permanent home. Initially, the life he and Zelda were building together felt like another fleeting, pretend game from their childhood. But now their life was finally starting to feel  _real._ Of course, several differences reinforced the distinction between reality and Link’s boyhood imaginings.  

Zelda’s bright hair didn’t billow on the wind like it had in Skyloft. Her eyes, while always kind and bright, now also held a deep determination. Sometimes Link caught her murmuring a half dozen “ _sorries"_ in her sleep, though these unconscious apologies were becoming fewer with time. Perhaps she was fully reconciling herself to Hylia’s own will. Link was glad, because he didn’t want Zelda to feel guilty. Link had chosen his path himself. Yes, Hylia had leveraged his devotion to make use of the Triforce, but he felt no coercion. Choosing to stay with her on the surface had been his free choice as well.  

Zelda held a heavy responsibility and he would never leave her to bear it alone. Link was duty-bound to that Triforce now, not only because Zelda was the Goddess who called him but because she was his deepest love. A love first born from youthful fondness that had been tempered in the fire of fidelity. A love that filled him with courage.  

On the morning of that first earthquake, Link woke to feel his bed shaking beneath him in the dim light. His mind wrenched him back into an old vision. He stood in an endless void, watching tendrils of darkness stream upwards from an enormous, gaping maw with rows of sword-sharp teeth. The ground shook with the monstrosity’s every step.  

A familiar nightmare.  

But the vision was changing. Now he was staring down a gravely wounded Ghirahim, who taunted Link while Zelda screamed in agony from above. The ground rumbled all the while. Link threw out his shield to protect himself as billowing darkness rolled toward him. He adjusted his white-knuckle grip on the Sword. He knew that the dark culmination of all his terrifying visions was upon him: _the revival of Demise._ Link steeled his heart. He channeled his fear into cold resolve. He would stand against this primal evil even if it meant death- 

His eyes flew open at the sound of something shattering nearby. He glanced around the sparse room. Link wasn’t facing Demise. He was lying in his bed on the surface in the middle of an earthquake. His books toppled from their shelves and thudded to the floor, pages splayed. His shield tipped from its resting place against the wall and hit the floor with a CLANG. 

Link bolted up from his bed and threw an arm behind his head to draw a Sword he no longer had. His hand fell through empty space, startling him. He gulped down breaths.  

The shaking ceased within seconds. An eerie quiet rushed to fill his ears.  

 _Where was Zelda?_  

 _“Link!”_ her voice called from the next room.  

She appeared in the bedroom’s doorway, already clothed in a flowing ruby-pink dress with her sleek blonde hair secured by purple ribbons. She was unharmed.  

Relief poured over him.  

“What’s happening?” he asked. He shifted out of his fighting stance and tried to calm his breathing.  

Her eyes crinkled with concern. “It’s just an earthquake. Hy- um, _I_  remember they happen on the surface somewhat often. Everything’s alright.” 

“So… it’s not… no one’s attacking?” he asked.  

She shook her head _no_.  

Suddenly, the room began to shake again. Link’s bare feet bounced from under him and he stumbled backwards onto the bed. Zelda clung to the doorpost. 

“It’s probably an aftershock!” she called to him in a trembling yell. Her purple hair ribbons shook wildly. 

The quaking kicked up memories of his old nightmares once more. Fresh panic rose in his lungs. _She said everything’s alright_ , he told himself, his chest heaving. The shield rattled violently against the floor.  

Soon the second earthquake faded to stillness, leaving behind the sound of his own hammering heart and the ragged tearing of his breaths.  

 _It’s over. Everything’s alright,_ he repeated.  

He tried to quiet the labored breathing with his usual resolve. During his quest, he dealt with his fears by continually sublimating them into action. He could panic later, he would tell himself, but first he had enemies to defeat and deadly riddles to solve. He could panic when Zelda was safe but until then he needed to  _fight._  

But now? With his enemies defeated and Zelda safe, he faced only the ghosts of his memories stirred up by a shaking surface. What was he supposed to do with his residual terror now? The panic was no longer tied to a concrete enemy for him to face in combat. His struggle was on the inside now.  

His vision swam and he clutched the bedsheets in his fists to steady himself. The sound of his pulse in his ears crowded his hearing…  

… until a blessed touch pulled him from his spiraling panic.  


	2. Love

Though the earthquake had stopped, the metallic echo of Link’s rattling shield still rang in Zelda’s ears. She watched from the doorway as her Link sat silently on the bed with his knuckles white and his eyes wide. This silence was different from Link’s amiable, thoughtful quiet that she usually found so calming. This silence screamed  _terror_.

His shoulders were slumped and his breathing was quick. She could guess which memories he was reliving.  

Her thoughts diverged. The shaking had initially alarmed Zelda too. Hylia, however, was unshakable. She had already ushered Hyrule through ages of natural disasters, not to mention that she had triumphed over even the  _unnatural_  ones. When the ground first shook beneath the weight of Demise’s initial assault so long ago, Hylia decisively cleft the ground and raised it skyward, rescuing her people. And later, when Demise shook the land with his revival, she cunningly thwarted him by raising up a mighty human champion. So whether the quake was a natural disaster or portend of evil (and she suspected the first), Hylia’s memories assured Zelda that all would be well.  

_But the quake still terrified Link_ , Zelda thought to herself. She saw two versions of him at once: her favorite gentle, fluffy haired youth  _and_  the chosen hero that carried the mortals’ courage against the darkness. Each version needed her help.

Zelda armed herself with both Hylia’s wisdom and her own adoration, then she approached the cowering hero. She carefully sat beside him. Link didn’t seem to notice.  

She reached out and hovered her small hand over his shoulder, barely making contact. Link’s shoulders rose and tensed, but then he relaxed into her touch with a faltering sigh. He finally turned to her. His ocean blue eyes held the terror of a drowning man. But Zelda knew him well enough to see that beneath the terror was also deep thankfulness, so she pressed on.  

She ran her fingers through his feathery hair and his breathing began to slow. She shifted closer to his side and laid her head gingerly against his shoulder.  

“ _It’s ok_ ,” she whispered softly. Her ribbon-bound hair fell across his chest. “ _You’re ok._ We’re _ok. We’re safe. You’re_ loved _. It’s ok_.”

She continued murmuring to him as if steadying a spooked loftwing. Her words weren’t profound, but she hoped that they might comfort him all the same. She ran her palm between his strained shoulder blades in gentle, rhythmic circles.  

They sat together in solace until the sun shone through the room’s eastward window. When the golden rays hit Link’s face, she lifted her head from his shoulder and pressed a hesitant kiss to his full lips.  

They pulled away and gazed at each other’s faces illuminated by the morning sunlight. This time, Link’s eyes swam with thankful devotion. Zelda vowed to spend the rest of her life pouring that devotion back into him.  

***

Sky carried the memories of Zelda’s compassion even as he journeyed far into the future alongside his successors. All the moments she spent patiently comforting him had filled a wellspring of courage deep inside of his spirit where no fear could reach. He didn’t need to force himself into bravery anymore, for it simply flowed from him.  

An earthquake was no match for him. Sky was unshakable.  

He crouched down beside Warriors. The ground was now still. Sky could feel warm blood flowing from his throbbing knee, but he sensed the cut was only skin deep. Warriors threw back a hand to cradle his jarred head.

“How’s it feel?” Sky asked.  

Warriors screwed his eyes shut. “Bad,” he murmured, before snapping his eyes back open. “But fine.”

Sky tried to help Warriors to his feet. The captain brushed his hands away. Warriors swayed slightly when he stood, but his face was set with resolve so Sky said nothing.  

“You were quick. I…thank you,” Warriors told him with a brisk, yet sincere, bow of his injured head.  

“Don’t thank me,” Sky replied with a half-smile.  _Thank her_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work was based on a prompt by [ClumsyDarknut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClumsyDarknut/pseuds/ClumsyDarknut), who also helped with research and characterization. 
> 
> (I highly recommend his LU fics)


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